In the next People Behind KDE interview, we stay in the United States of America (but leave in an underwater craft!) to meet a KDE developer who could be a JuKebox in another life, someone who helps you build development versions of KDE (staying on the bleeding edge without the pain!) - tonight's star of People Behind KDE is Michael Pyne.

Comments

Yes, I like it too. Especially since it reads far more like a dialog than previous installments did. Those read like a standard list of questions being answered and then send back. In this one, the interviewer responds to what is being answered, asks more questions. This makes for a far more interesting read. Good job!

Yeah, it's been pretty good times in the sub fleet. I realize I kind of sounded down on the Navy but like I said overall it's been a good deal. Not sure that I will make it a career but it's hard to complain even after some of those days that seem like they will never end. The work is interesting and the people are awesome so although it would not have been my first choice if I could go back in time, I have no regrets.

I will mention however that my work for the Navy is completely unrelated to the work done by ADM Hopper, I was accepted into the Submarine community in spite of my Computer Science degree, not because of it.

Hey Michael, I'm ex-Navy myself. I was an airdale way back when the Enterprise was the only nuclear carrier. For this reason it was the choice instrument of sabre rattling and offered typical 8 month deployments. No senior people wanted to be there and thus you can imagine what kind of command it was. Sea dogs voted us most likely to sink back in 1976. It was around this time I was told Navy stands for "Never Again Volunteer Yourself".

I am quite proud to have served. When I got out I had received one meritorious promotion and was the only Avionics Tech in my squadron fully qualified on all four versions of the A6 aircraft. I had zero downing gripes in 6 months as a flight deck troubleshooter. I loved those 100 hour work weeks of run don't walk in full gear and equitorial heat around 50 turning jets in 1100 feet (33.5 meters). I think it was partly that excellence was not rewarded without seniority that frustrated me. By the same token it was the first place I proved to myself I could achieve excellent performance and the discipline I learned impacted the rest of my life. I have no regrets but one nice thing about being old is that I can't wake up re-enlisted. ;-)

Anyway it's always fun to see others from the US in KDE and even cooler to see people in the Navy. You have my appreciation both for what you do for KDE and for standing ready to protect my freedom. I salute you.

If you don't like Wikipedia itself, take a look at the sources it cites relevant to that quotation. I just somehow doubt they'd make up a quote by Thomas Edison that uses the word "bug" in the modern sense, and cite it as well.

But I know everyone likes to hate on wikipedia even though I and many others rarely find any gross or even minor errors on it (maybe I'm just not looking at the right articles?).

It's like Rugby only with breaks every 15:th second. And with big helmets and other protective gear. And let's have another two teams standing by if someone from the first team gets tired from running for 10sec straight.

Just kidding. I enjoy the sport, although I do think it should have another name. Football is played with the feet, hence the name. Call it Am-ball or something. ;-)

Great explanation, never heard it before. It's good to know where the name came from. To be fair though most ball sports are played on foot aren't they? Never heard of the sport "horse ball" but I'd give it a chance if it was on the tube. Maybe.

hehehehe
I missed that. That was funny.
Sad thing is that the USN is moving to digital periscopes. That is the mast has totally outside of the ship, and that only wires go in an out. It might be useful for the USN to consider mounting other cameras on tower to watch around. I mean, in peace time, why not use the ship for a bit of exploration. It might also come in handy during littoral operations. My understanding is both seas of china are starting to clear up, though the water in the middle east remains pretty bad.

I did not say that the new masts are a "a sad thing". I said that not putting more cameras out there and doing research at the same time is a sad thing. At any one time, we have a number of subs in the oceans in locations that research vessels will not see for the next 50 years. These could be shooting pix. In particular, there is no reason to not use various wavelength lights during peacetime (obvoiusly we do not want them shining during none peacetime).

Wow. Just read my original post. I did say exactly that. I did not mean it that way. I am sorry. What bugs me is that the USN is in areas that researchers will not be in for 50 years. It would be useful to have them check interesting areas and record them while there.

As a result of this interview I ordered "C++ GUI programming with Qt 4" by Jasmin Blanchette and Mark Summerfield from my local library. I sure hope it's good. Maybe I'll even implement that video manager/player idea sometime this side of college graduation.